Winston's Story

From Rags to Riches

After the loss of Bonnie we were just devastated. We had never felt the hurt of losing her, especially since she was our "special one".  In our lives we decided we would never add anymore ferrets to our household. Two weeks later we got a call from our vet explaining he had taken in a whole (hob) ferret and would be up for adoption after he was neutered  and his medical problems were cleared up. If we were interested, we could come down and take a look. Reluctantly we went to his office. He was huge and all muscle, with a massive bone structure. We had been to several ferret shows and had seen many a ferret, but none like this old boy. His coat was yellow indicating he was in season and of course the smell confirmed it. We think he was probably kept outdoors. Our vet explained he was found in Urbana, Ohio, in a rainstorm, underneath a McDonald's dumpster forging for food. He was brought to his office in Enon, about 20 miles from Urbana. When he came in he had several medical problems, ear mites, matted hair, gingivitis, toe nail fungus  on his back feet, one canine tooth missing, part of an ear missing and was over weight. He weighed almost six pounds. He was old, estimated between 9 and 11 years by the condition of his teeth.

We reluctantly took the old man in. When we got him home and let him out of his carrier he could hardly walk. He just wobbled back and forth. We felt so sorry for him and was determined to give him a good life however long it would be, one week, one month or one year. After a two weeks of love and on a diet and exercise the old man became active and very happy, dooked constantly and did the "Weasel War Dance". He just kind of hopped in the air. He was so old. He would plop down on his side and make eye contact with us. You could just see the happiness in his eyes. He loved his ferret buddies, his new home and us.  He seemed to appreciate anything we did for him. The twinkle in his eyes was all we needed to know he loved his new life. Such a kindly, distinguished gentleman, we decided  to call him "Winston".

Since we were attending ferret shows, we decided to show him in the Seniors Classes. So off to York Pa, Lansing, MI, and Columbus, OH.  He took 2 or 3 second place ribbons and finally took  first place in Cincinnati. He was then retired.  An amazing feat considering his age. He loved to  travel with us and go the shows. He looked forward to stopping at "McDonald's" for a bit of hamburger on the way. Winston was an amazing ferret and loved everyone. Such a nice guy.

Winston was with us just four days shy of one year. Winston left his hammock one late afternoon and crawled into his nest box for one last time. Winston was maxed out on Predisone for insulinoma and passed away in his sleep. Winston was cremated and his remains like all our passing ferrets will be spread with ours.  Winston was truly "A Special Guy". The truth is, Winston gave us more then we gave him.